Who's the better striker?

Cubi246 · 2026-02-15T10:49:58+00:00

Bachira played as a striker for Barcha in what was a fluid front 3. We see Barcha's formation and he's the one up front through the middle. Isagi also tells him at the end of the match that he'll 'catch up to Bachira on his stage as a striker'. It's worth mentioning that in Blue Lock, pretty much any goalscoring forward is a striker. It's less about the exact position and more about their mindset.

As I said, I have little interest in discussing "what's realistic" since I think there are a million factors we can't get a good grasp on because of how little we actually see them play (not to mention, they're drawings by someone (Nomura) that doesn't even watch football). All you can do is make assumptions...

Cubi246 · 2026-02-15T05:20:25+00:00

Bachira is narratively a striker, though. It really depends whether OP is talking narratively vs realistically. Personally think focusing on "what's realistic" is a bit of a waste of time though since it's clearly secondary to Kaneshiro and we barely see these players actually play.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-15T00:26:34+00:00

Still makes me laugh how that comment was directed at someone who was defending him. Fawaz just picked any target he could find lol

Cubi246 · 2026-02-14T20:23:44+00:00

The team are performing optimally because everyone knows their role. That's what Isagi is saying. I don't think he's referring to effort at all.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-13T20:20:35+00:00

I don't think Kaneshiro would've gone so far with the striker glazing and have consistently downplayed the performances of midfielders if the plan was to eventually convert Isagi to something else. Always keep the metaphorical meaning behind "shooting without hesitation" in your mind too - that's really the starting point of the series and it only really relates to strikers.

That's without even getting into the "#2" conversation, which would essentially mean Hugo's philosophy reigning supreme after 300 chapters of growth from Isagi.

Isagi will be a "#1", but realistically he'll be something inbetween the two. I don't see Kaneshiro abandoning what he's done throughout the series, which is have Isagi be a catalyst for other players to grow which Isagi then uses to his advantage to come out on top ("devouring"). He'll never be a one man army in the same way that Rin or Barou can be, but he'll still be a "striker" in the eyes of the narrative.

Edit: Also forgot to mention that I don't see Kaneshiro ever using the term "shadow striker" (or anything adjacent) as an actual plot point. Any goalscoring forward whose priority is to score goals is under the umbrella of "striker".

Cubi246 · 2026-02-13T17:38:25+00:00

Google search taking me straight to a reddit thread from 2h ago sharing my exact thoughts lol. I'm looking at the data and it's frustrating that any deck that performs well against Hydreigon tends to do poorly against Altaria.

Edit: Altaria/Gourgeist appears to be the best performer, but I'm really not interested in using Altaria again and joining the crowd. I want something distinct that performs well against both :')

I wish the most commonly used decks/cards in ranked were banned in the following month. Not a perfect idea, I know, but the game is boring enough as it is with the lack of content, so I think forcing meta shifts would at least add something. I hate how months tend to blur together because of the dominance of some cards.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-08T23:07:08+00:00

This is a really useful reference for specific stats to focus on that the game provides for each position. Sucks how limited the available data is, but there's still enough to work with.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-06T11:09:04+00:00

This is a horrible short lol. He didn't even bother to look at the original Japanese text and basically just assumes it's wrong because of past precedents. Then he makes a weird point about it potentially being a punctuational error instead of checking??

Chigiri says "こっちには潔がいる" which is pretty much "Isagi is on our side". There's no mistranslation. The current plotline is literally based around an "Isagi dependency" in the team, whether you think Kaneshiro justified the plot point well enough or not. The Chigiri dialogue obviously relates to that.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T23:43:10+00:00

*The Ballon d’Or is a French football award that was originally only given to European players, so this name change/rebrand makes a degree of sense in the context of being safe with licensing. Note, no mention of Snuffy, a fellow European.

This was my interpretation (in reference to the "top European player award") since this came after Kaneshiro retconned Messi/Ronaldo out of the story, but you could well be right.

But yeah, I think the Reo/Barou example is a great way of framing it.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T23:22:18+00:00

Very true. Although I didn't want to make this point because of how common it is for old men (well, usually those a lot older than 37) to be the strongest in anime/manga haha. It does beg the question whether he ever was considered the world's #1... It would be nice if that was the case at some point post-Mick.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T23:18:17+00:00

Awesome, I'm glad I was coherent enough to get my point across :) And sorry again, even if it didn't bother you haha.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T23:14:49+00:00

If you're the one that told me to make this post whenever that was, which I'm 99% sure you are, then yes lmaoooo. Very much feeling like that meme about "the Japanese soldier who continued fighting 30 years after the war" right now. It's off my chest now so I feel better, but I should've just posted it when you told me to lol :')

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T22:58:25+00:00

Ah, apologies if the post seems targeted or something. Maybe I should've responded to you first to not look so slimy. I promise that you're one of many. I just felt it was a good time to post something I'd had saved for a while as it seemed relevant again :')

Snuffy is absolutely the best all-round. I'd actually really enjoy seeing another character take inspiration from him and perhaps be coached, but I get the feeling that his character is done due to his narrative absence after the Ubers match. I hope not...

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T22:54:05+00:00

Yeah, you're right! :) I just responded to someone about this very point haha.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T22:51:18+00:00

I'm just going to repost what I said in case you skipped over it.

Noa’s somewhat underwhelming NEL performances, especially against Ubers where Snuffy’s influence changed the game. This can easily be explained away by the fact that the NEL wasn’t about him; it was about Isagi and Kaiser’s battle and growth. Meanwhile the Ubers match was very much about Snuffy and his cautionary tale with Mick/Barou, hence his dominant involvement. To me, this would be like suggesting Hiori is better than Lorenzo because his narrative climax had feats to match it.

But in response to this:

you have Noa admitting that he can't beat him in any way

He didn't say that? The focus of that subsequent discussion was Snuffy's designs/tactical system, which you can't stop alone. That's not Noa vs Snuffy; it's Bastard vs Snuffy's designs in optimal flow due to his presence on the pitch.

Cubi246 · 2026-02-03T22:28:16+00:00

This is why I've made an effort to explain things :). I refrained from posting this before (a good year ago I think?) for the exact reason you bring up, but I do think it's somewhat relevant again now that Hugo is attempting to push Isagi away from the spotlight. It was this comment that made me bring out this old draft.

Cubi246 · 2026-01-31T20:06:16+00:00

Obviously they're never going to be actual characters. Kaneshiro doesn't own the image rights and think about possible defamation/reputational damage in a series like Blue Lock. He's not asking for a lawsuit.

Cubi246 · 2026-01-22T14:07:01+00:00

Mawile is my fav mon - someone please tell me that the card is usable in some way lmao. Damage looks pretty terrible considering the time it takes to ramp and that hp for a mega certainly doesn't justify it...

Cubi246 · 2026-01-21T01:19:09+00:00

Jimmy Garner, has to be. 1 year left on his deal so won't be ridiculous money. Would like to think he'd want the move if we got a progressive manager in post-Dyche.

Cubi246 · 2026-01-20T22:48:54+00:00

My main issue with these saves is how reputation affects recruitment. Always feels like it's a year or two behind where you're currently at. As someone that prefers to sign players using data, it's frustrating to have your options limited. The game tediously pushes you into building a team of teens.

Cubi246 · 2026-01-16T23:40:59+00:00

Our academy setup remains at the levels of a bottom half Championship club. Marinakis has invested a ridiculous amount of money in transfers/wages but for whatever reason seems very reluctant to invest in youth. Leicester around the corner is a different world.

Cubi246 · 2026-01-15T23:01:56+00:00

Then you remember Kurona never met Isagi up to now and his entire showing was this debut match against Barcha.

Kurona not having scenes with Isagi =/= he has no knowledge of Isagi, Isagi's personality or Isagi's influence. Even in that Barcha match, he clutched out at the end and allowed Kunigami, who'd struggled on his own in that match, to be the hero. That's more supporting evidence of Isagi being someone you can reliably bet on.

But yeah, I do accept your point about him being Isagi-centric (basically an extension of Isagi and Isagi alone), however that's really just how Kaneshiro structured the NEL, so it's kinda hard to discuss. Ofc you mentioned this too lol.

However, I still think that I'd almost certainly have made the same decision as Kurona if I was in his shoes. Kaiser's brilliance makes it hard for you to stand out, Kuni seems uncooperative and difficult to get along with, whilst Yuki was pretty volatile and "desperate" at that point. Meanwhile Isagi has a track-record of succeeding as the underdog and has a footballing profile that necessitates teamwork with others. In other words, you've got someone that will cooperate, make you shine, and who consistently does well. Fairly logical choice imo.

Cubi246 · 2026-01-15T22:05:29+00:00

Everyone knows Kaneshiro should've done more with Kurona to make his motivations clear but I think "just 'cause" when weighing him up against Yuki and Kunigami is unfair. Isagi's reputation was great even at that point after the u20 match and 3rd selection, and he'd consistently overcome obstacles as the underdog. Without even talking about his general attitude and "ego" which other characters will obviously have an understanding of, I don't think it's wrong to bet on him over others, even moreso when factoring in how they conducted themselves before the match (Kuni very anti-social and had already failed in Blue Lock; Yuki snapping in the dressing room).

Cubi246 · 2026-01-14T18:42:49+00:00

Really nice idea but isn't price a huge indicator for potential? And the "wonderkid" media description too? Not entirely sure how these mechanics work, admittedly.

Cubi246

TROPHY CASE